A busy day of NBA Action didn’t offer too many surprises except for perhaps the Detroit Pistons upsetting the Los Angeles Clippers. The rest of the title contenders did fine: The Cleveland Cavaliers blew out the pathetic Dallas Mavericks, the Golden State Warriors ran over the Los Angeles Lakers again, and the San Antonio Spurs dominated with their depth on their visit to Boston.
San Antonio Spurs 109 Boston Celtics 103: The Spurs win for the 8th time in a row, leaning on Kawhi Leonard (25 points, 10 rebounds) and the bench, with 19 points by Patty Mills and 15 each from David Lee and Davis Bertans.
Washington Wizards 94 Orlando Magic 91: A close finish in Orlando, but the Wizards free throw shooting kept them in the lead. The entire Washington lineup scored in double figures, led by John Wall with 26 points and 10 assists. Otto Porter Jr. scored 19 points.
Dallas Mavericks 90 Cleveland Cavaliers 128: Dirk Nowitzki came back, but the Mavs fell to 1-9 on the road, owning the worst record in the NBA. Kevin Love with 27 points led the very deep Cavaliers, while Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and LeBron James settled for 19 with 11 assists.
Charlotte Hornets 111 New York Knicks 113: All the compliments in the world can’t hide the fact that the Hornets are a very limited team. The Knicks, on the other hand, are getting better, and have stars to defer to, like Carmelo Anthony, hitting the game winning shot to close out a big night with 35 points and 14 rebounds.
Chicago Bulls 105 Philadelphia 76ers 89: A big night for the Bulls, enjoying the resting Joel Embiid. Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade both scored 26 points, while Rajon Rondo finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists, avoiding taking too many shots, which is probably a good thing.
Los Angeles Clippers 97 Detroit Pistons 108: The Clippers lose their first road game and third overall this season. Six players on the Pistons scored in double figures, led by Marcus Morris with 17 points. Andre Drummond had a 16-10 double double. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul each scored 24 points for Detroit.
Atlanta Hawks 68 Utah Jazz 95: The Jazz defense made mincemeat of the Hawks, holding them to just 25 combined points in the second and third quarters. Gordon Hayward led Utah with 24 points, George Hill helped out scoring 23. The Hawks shot just 31.3% from the field.
Toronto Raptors 105 Milwaukee Bucks 99: DeMar DeRozan got plenty of help besides his 26 points in a tough win on the road, against a Bucks team that didn’t offer the same kind of assistance to Giannis Antetokounmpo, scoring 29 points on 12-of-17 from the field, dishing out 11 assists.
Miami Heat 90 Memphis Grizzlies 81: A surprising sound performance from the Heat on the road, as the absence of Mike Conley seemed like something the Grizzlies handled very poorly. Tyler Johnson scored 22 points for the Heat, getting help from Dion Waiters who finished with 15.
Brooklyn Nets 97 Indiana Pacers 118: It’s fair to say that without Jeremy Lin, the Brooklyn Nets are f***ing awful, maybe the worst in the NBA. The Pacers are playing without Paul George and still blew them out, led by 20 points from Glenn Robinson III.
Oklahoma City Thunder 132 Denver Nuggets 129: Two free throws from Victor Oladipo helped the Thunder take the lead in overtime and never let go. Russell Westbrook finished with a triple double, scoring 38 points, adding 12 rebounds and 18 assists. He also turned the ball over 7 times.
Minnesota Timberwolves 98 Phoenix Suns 85: Zach LaVine started the game with a big dunk on the head of Alex Len, and the game’s tone was set. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 25 points to lead the Timberwolves, winning for just the second time on the road this season.
New Orleans Pelicans 104 Portland Trail Blazers 119: The red hot Pelicans couldn’t keep up with Portland, getting 51 points on solid shooting from their backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Anthony Davis finished with 31 points for the Pelicans.
Golden State Warriors 109 Los Angeles Lakers 85: Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Stephen Curry finished with 24 as the Warriors blew out the Lakers for the second time in a week, looking like the most unstoppable team in the NBA right now.
Houston Rockets 117 Sacramento Kings 104: Despite a poor shooting night, James Harden finished with a triple double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead his Rockets to their 10th win of the season. The Kings, led by 32 from DeMarcus Cousins, look like they’re going down the same road of the last decade: Average at best, and not close to making the playoffs.
Eastern Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 12 | 2 | .857 | – | 14 |
| 2 | Toronto Raptors | 10 | 6 | .625 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 3 | Atlanta Hawks | 10 | 6 | .625 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 4 | Chicago Bulls | 10 | 6 | .625 | 3.0 | 16 |
| 5 | Boston Celtics | 9 | 7 | .563 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 6 | New York Knicks | 8 | 7 | .533 | 4.5 | 15 |
| 7 | Charlotte Hornets | 8 | 7 | .533 | 4.5 | 15 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 8 | 9 | .471 | 5.5 | 17 |
| 9 | Indiana Pacers | 8 | 9 | .471 | 5.5 | 17 |
| 10 | Milwaukee Bucks | 6 | 8 | .429 | 6.0 | 14 |
| 11 | Orlando Magic | 6 | 10 | .375 | 7.0 | 16 |
| 12 | Washington Wizards | 5 | 9 | .357 | 7.0 | 14 |
| 13 | Miami Heat | 5 | 10 | .333 | 7.5 | 15 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Nets | 4 | 11 | .267 | 8.5 | 15 |
| 15 | Philadelphia 76ers | 4 | 12 | .250 | 9.0 | 16 |
Western Conference Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 14 | 2 | .875 | – | 16 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Clippers | 14 | 3 | .824 | 0.5 | 17 |
| 3 | San Antonio Spurs | 13 | 3 | .813 | 1.0 | 16 |
| 4 | Memphis Grizzlies | 10 | 6 | .625 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 10 | 6 | .625 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 6 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 9 | 8 | .529 | 5.5 | 17 |
| 7 | Utah Jazz | 9 | 8 | .529 | 5.5 | 17 |
| 8 | Portland Trail Blazers | 9 | 9 | .500 | 6.0 | 18 |
| 9 | Los Angeles Lakers | 8 | 9 | .471 | 6.5 | 17 |
| 10 | Sacramento Kings | 6 | 10 | .375 | 8.0 | 16 |
| 11 | Denver Nuggets | 6 | 10 | .375 | 8.0 | 16 |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 6 | 11 | .353 | 8.5 | 17 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 5 | 10 | .333 | 8.5 | 15 |
| 14 | Phoenix Suns | 5 | 12 | .294 | 9.5 | 17 |
| 15 | Dallas Mavericks | 2 | 13 | .133 | 11.5 | 15 |